This photo taken by Shawneen Creesuga Foureyes is making the rounds on Facebook today, July 24, 2018.
Image Credit: Facebook/ Shawneen Creesuga Foureyes
July 24, 2018 - 11:45 AM
CONTENT ADVISORY
ENDERBY - A sign posted on the side of a North Okanagan highway labelling indigenous people as “lazy” is the latest in a series of other racist messages that have appeared in communities in recent months.
The cardboard sign posted outside the Starlight Drive-In near Enderby wasn’t up long, but is already getting lots of attention on social media. Paul Linquist, a co-owner of the drive-in, confirmed Tuesday morning the sign was not of their doing and they find the content “very inappropriate” and “ignorant.” He says the sign was not there when he left last night, and was already gone when he opened up this morning.
Passersby certainly noticed the sign early this morning, and Facebook user Shawneen Creesuga Foureyes posted these pictures.
Splatsin First Nation Chief Kukpi7 Wayne Christian says the RCMP have been made aware and are investigating.
“This is part of a growing trend,” Christian says.
He points to other recent examples, such as the vandalism of a mural for missing and murdered indigenous women in Enderby, as well as hate speech scrawled on a sign near Kamloops that welcomed mushroom pickers to Secwepmec territory.
“Honestly, if you look at global trends and what’s happening in the U.S. with the president… when you have someone of that stature saying what he’s saying to the world, it gives people license to do the same thing,” Christian says.
But, Christian says that doesn’t represent the majority of people in his community of Enderby.
“I think this is a small group of people trying to amplify their voices by doing what they’re doing. We have a good relationship with the City of Enderby, Lumby and Sicamous. I would call it reconciliation in action, that’s what we’re doing. We’re getting to understand and know each other.”
He says the incidents of hate speech are cowardly and attention-seeking behaviour. He adds that the message printed on the sign could not be more misinformed.
“The whole thought that our people don’t work is a total misrepresentation. It’s an old thought, the 'drunken, lazy Indian.' Our people do work, we are probably some of the hardest workers,” Christian says.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2018